This Barrel is GODLY. Nothing compares. When Lapco says that no one has gone to these lengths to create a better barrel, they are not lying. It is perfection in the finest sense. I have tested Dye Boomsticks and Ultralites, and they PALE IN COMPARISON. They dont even come close.
Quieter than bigshots. Beadblasted for an Awesome look with the A-5.

Everyone wake up, the time has come. We must all take notice, the new standard is Lapco.

evil paintballs have worked great with all the barrels i have had on my A-5
marbs are still good but i prefer evil

Strengths:

See below

Weaknesses:

See below

Review:

I have played many games with this and I'll tell you this thing is the best barrel for what ever type of paintball you play. It is extremly good in the woods thou because it wont make the ball curve like most barrels do. I can lob the paintballs and knock people out when most people cant even come close. Its a great barrel.

Strength
The barrel is very accurate. At about 15 yards i can hit a pole that is only an inch and a half thick. i can keep hitting this pole as long as i dont move the gun. The barrel is better then the bigshot and the Dye barrels that i have used. The dye barrels are accurate for a short while but tend to curve off target. The snapshot never makes the ball curve, even at very long ranges.

Weakness
The only bad thing about this barrel is it cost alot of money. Lapco has usually been very cheap with their barrels but this one is alot. But the price is defently worth it thou. So all and all the Barrel has no real weakness.

Conclusion:

If you want to go all out and get the best barrel you can, i say go for the snapshot. But if your low on cash the lapco bigshot is almost as good. Dye makes a good barrel but the snapshot is the best in my book.

2003 AKA Viking #A00546, Wased out with eyes, bartparts no-rider, dye sticky3's, aim skyforce drop, custom plexiglass trigger that I made and a crossfire 45/4500 with a dye cover. This gun owns your gun unless you have a custom viking or excal, then I hate you.

Its up there in price with ultralights, stiffis, etc but not overpriced.

Review:

I love this barrel. Right when I got it I tested it with some evil paint and its dead on, I get a lot of shots hitting directly on top of each other. Its very quiet, much quieter than a lapco bigshot or autospirit and a little quieter than a scepter. It has more porting then the previous models and it also comes right after the control bore which probably explains why its quieter. Mine is a 14inch with .689 bore which is all thats available so far but kits will be available soon so dont worry about that. I also have to say that it looks stunning, no nicks on the exterior finish and a perfect innerbore similar to a mirror. As of now I dont think it will shoot through breaks but it doesnt break either because i had to break a ball to get to break in the first place.

Conclusion:

I would definitely consider this product if your looking to spend some money on a great barrel that just keeps on delivering.

Quality is at its peak with Lapco's new snapshot barrel kit. When I opened the package for the first time and held one of the backs, I immediately could feel the quality; solid, balanced, perfectly honed; something you would have to experience for yourself. This barrel is very accurate compared to my 16"freak kit; it blows Smart parts out of the hemosphere. This is the barrel I am sticking with because frankly, there is not a better barrel out there. The best $200 bucks I have ever invested in an upgrade.

UPDATE JAN 20 2006
Still the best barrel kit money can buy....I guarantee it! People drool when they see the barrel in person.
They always ask....."what kind of barrel is that?" or "Holy SH!T, WHAT THE HECK IS THAT?" Then they pick it up and they instantly say "Wow, does that ever feel like a quality barrel!" Then they put the barrel on their A-5 and take a few hundred shots.
"How much do you want for the barrel, Mark?"
"It's not for sale"
....LOL!
LAPCO FOR LIFE!

Conclusion:

The absolute must in upgrading an A-5 is replacing the stock barrel. This barrel kit is awesome. If you cannot decide between a freak kit or the snapshot kit, do not hesitate to go for the snapshot, you will not regret it. Flawless....Good job Lapco!

Decent paint that fits the bore, only .689 right now but there'll be more very soon

Strengths:

accurate and quiet. looks nice; looks like the DYE ultralite, but different porting.

Weaknesses:

Price, but you get what you pay for as so often the saying goes...

Review:

I bought this on the reccomendation from somebody at my favorite pball store. I was surprised that something from Lacpo was so pricy, but I was not disapointed. The two pieces connect flawlessly. In other two pieces, if you look down into the barrel from the fron, you will see the connection, and often it will NOT be a prefect circle: in the snapshot, it is perfect, the two pieces connect perfectly.

I was very happy with the accuracy, I was getting about 2ft radius from 150 feet away from my target, once I get a new reg (I use the stock cocker reg right now) I expect it to get even tighter.

Most people don't care about how loud barrels are, and I'm more for accuracy as well, but this thing sounds almost like a soft "whumph", and it does help in woodsball.

UPDATE:
Since I last wrote this review I've tried out many more barrels, including the DYE UL, WGP STO, Freak, adn Evil pipe.

The Lapco was better than pipe, the sto, as good as the dye ul, and almost as good as the freak. amazing.

I suggest this barrel with any gun, In any situation. The accuracy and range is awsome, this barrel has the best shot for shot consistancy of any barrel in my opinion. The only barrel that has better range is the flatline. I use this barrel on all my guns, whether im playing woods ball or speed ball. I can always trust my lapco to give me the best performance out of any barrel I have used. I have baught and tested numerous barrels, and the lapco has proved the best all around.

Great barrel. On my A-5 with R/T, I can shoot ropes of accurate paint. I am hitting in a VERY small circle with this thing, I don't doubt that it would hit ball on ball with a more consistent gun. This came WAY close enough though for me. You all know about the mirror finish, barely visible line between tip and back parts of barrel, etc. At the target range, I was comparing mine to an Ion with a Freak barrel. My A-5 with a Snapshot was just as accurate as his Ion with a Freak, if not more accurate. What more could you ask?

When I played with it, I did exceptionally well. I was playing a 6 vs 6 and I eliminated 4 players and won us the game, we only lost one guy. In another game, I hit a guy in the mask with one shot. The cool thing is, I was easily a football field length away when I did this and his mask was only BARELY sticking out.

Does not scratch easily, when it does it is very hard to see. I have a couple scratches on mine, the paint is off them but the barrel is better than ever and the scratches are very dull.

I am extremely satisfied with this barrel.

Edit: Ok, I feel like an idiot writing the post above, but you all know the feelings, you want to believe the thing you bought was the best you can buy.

This is something like a year later now, I've joined a scenario paintball team, (E-Jam Red Raiders), I play every weekend, and I have two aftermarket barrels for my A-5 (Palmer Brass and Lapco Snapshot). I currently use the back half (control bore) of the Lapco Snapshot as my barrel. That's right, no tip.

I find it highly accurate, shoots straight, nothing to complain about. But honestly, I'm wishing I bought an 8" Bigshot instead. It would have been cheaper, and more suited to what I play. Don't expect "godly" accuracy if this is your first barrel, it's just better than most barrels out there. Once you get to a certain range, price-wise, you get about the same results, performace-wise.

This barrel is about the same quality as a Palmer Brass, a Freak, an Ultralight, a Bigshot, a Proto, a Stiffi and others that I have missed. Ok, so it might be better than some of these in the right conditions, or worse, but they really all fall in the same category.

I actually have the Snapshot kit, which was very expensive, but worth it. My accuracy is amazing. From about 75-100 feet I shot the pole on a chain-link fence - first try. I have gotten more head shots with this barrel than in my entire paintball history! As for durability, I tripped once, and jammed it into a rock, and it didn't even scratch! (I was afraid to look at it I fell so hard on it I thought that it would be mutilated).

Another plus is that you can put the lapco air cooled machine gun shroud on it, if you like that look.

This barrel is a great upgrade. Dont even think about passing it up! It is extemely accurate, it adds distance, and it simply look tight. This barrel will not let you down. I found this 120$ barrel for 85$ online so shop around for a good deal. Don't let money be an issue with this thing, you'll be glad you invested!

Conclusion:

This Barrel is a must! I shot my gun with the stock barrel from 75FT away onto a 2 1-2'by 3' box and sometimes missed and with this barrel, I stood about 100 to 130 ft away and shot onto a tree 7" thick in about a 6" diameter 4 out of 5 times. I was nervous about this prodect but it did not dissapoint me. I busted paint to see how hard it was to clean because of the drilled holes but to my surprise, a toothpick can work wonders. This gun also cut the noise of my gun easily in half!

I recently switched from the AGD twist lock style barrels to the cocker threaded barrels (available to Mags by upgrading to the new ULE bodies). I had set up the gun on the previous weekend with it's stock barrel (which is very nice).

Switched out bodies, stuck the Snapshot in there, and then chrono'd in at 330ish. Was using the same paintballs as before. (PMI premiums). The paint to barrel match was much better.

Also noticed that thing was really quiet. I'm used to loud barrels (I used the stock barrel, and the Bigshot and the Autospirit mostly). It sounded great.

Conclusion:

A great barrel from an oft overlooked company. Lapco may not be "Dye" or "Smart Parts," but there stuff is just as good, if not better. And, it won't break the bank. The full kits are due approx May 1st (according to Colin @ Lapco). They'll have a 10 and 12 inch fronts, and backs for 687, 689 and 693. If you're like me, and can't wait, the single backs and fronts will be available for purchase. For more updates, check out Lapco's forums at http://lapcopaintball.com/forum/index.php